Site: Erzurum
Country: Turkey
Region: Historic Armenia, Eastern Turkey
Location : 40° 01’ N, 41° 34’ E
Cultures: Arab, Seljuk, Ottoman, Armenian, Byzantine
Description:

Erzurum [Lat: Caranitis; Grk: Theodosioupolis; Arm: Karin or Karnoy kʽałakʽ] still preserves a citadel, the surviving portion of a now demolished and much earlier fortress built by the Armenian Arsacid kings.  The Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II constructed the citadel in 415 A.D.  This site was recaptured by the Greeks after a brief period of Arab occupation in the late 10th c. and became an important stronghold of the Armenian Bagratids, who carried out substantial repairs.  In the 12th c. the new Seljuk occupants employed Armenian masons to build the small mosque and the Tepsi minaret within the citadel.  There is evidence of 16th c. Ottoman repairs.

Ref: Armenia, pp. 43-44, 98-100, 115, 257, 118-119*, 124*,163*; Erzurum, pp. 7 ff; Karin, passim.

No plan was executed.

Alternate Site Names and Spellings: Caranitis, Theodosiopolis, Karin, Karnoy kʽałakʽ, Կարին, Կարնոյ քաղաք, Erzerum, Θεοδοσιούπολις